Sir Alex Ferguson says he is 'fortunate' not to be involved at the forefront
of the game after witnessing Manchester United's record outlay in the
transfer window

Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he was glad he was no longer in charge of Manchester United after witnessing the amount of money they and others splurged in the transfer market this summer.

Speaking publicly for the first time since United spent a record £150million signing players such as Radamel Falcao and Ángel di María, the club's former manager also warned there may be no end in sight to the inflation of transfer fees.

“My opinion is that it’s never going to change, the world is progressing, and transfer fees with it, and I don’t know if there’ll be an end to it,” Ferguson said after chairing two days of closed-door talks at Uefa’s annual Elite Club Coaches Forum. “Fortunately, I’m not at the hub of it nowadays. Certainly it’s amazing, the amount of money spent nowadays.”

Ferguson, who retired in May last year after 26 years as United’s manager, was renowned for developing young players and keeping their transfer spending in check.

But the club’s dramatic fall from grace since he moved behind the scenes at Old Trafford prompted an unprecedented spree this summer under new manager Louis van Gaal.

United smashed the British transfer record last week by paying Real Madrid £59.7m for Di María before making a sensational swoop on deadline day to sign Colombia striker Falcao on loan.

According to Swiss-based analysts the CIES Football Observatory, the Di María deal typified the breakneck inflation in the transfer market, which far outstrips price rises in the overall economy.

CIES claimed United overpaid by £24m to sign the Argentina star, and added that teams from Europe’s big five leagues paid an average of 16 per cent more than they invested in the five previous years for players with similar characteristics.